RedSea ReefDose Water Parameters Dosing Pumps Instructions
- September 20, 2024
- RedSea
Table of Contents
Introduction.
The Calculator simplifies maintaining the correct water parameters when using
the 4-Part Reef Care program with the ReefDose.
The dosing calculator performs 2 related but separate functions:
It calculates the manual “adjustment dose” required to bring your calcium and
all other elements from their “Current” level to the “Desired” level, assuming
that all elements are in balance.
It also calculates the optimal “daily dose” for your system based on the
actual calcium uptake of your aquarium.
The calculator’s recommendations can be implemented directly to ReefDose;
however, you should consider if the recommendations are appropriate before
implementing them as there are many other factors that can be affecting your
water parameters.
Directions for use
When first using the calculator, you need to confirm the volume and type of
system as well as defining your reef-keeping goals. The instruction manual
provided with the 4-Part Complete Reef Care provides more information about
selecting the optimal “Desired” level of calcium and salinity for your
specific system. Before you have any testing and/or dosing history in the logs
the calculator provides initial daily dosing recommendations based on an
average usage for an aquarium of the volume and aquarium type that you entered
when setting up your aquarium in the ReefBeat App. You can edit this
information at any time in the aquarium setting page or directly from the
“Desired levels” setting page in the calculator. Measure your “Current”
salinity and test your Calcium and enter these results into the log. Calculate
and give the manual adjustment dose required to bring your aquarium to your
desired parameters as this will affect the coral growth that we are trying to
establish. Run the aquarium for 3 days with the recommended daily dose and
then test the calcium and salinity and enter the values to the log. Do not
make a water change during these 3 days and maintain the salinity by
constantly topping up RO water lost due to evaporation. Make any necessary
adjustment dose to return the water to the desired parameters and update the
daily dose as recommended by the calculator and use this dose for a week.
Continue testing the calcium on a weekly basis and make additional adjustments
and updates to the daily doses as appropriate.
Salinity and normalized calcium readings
Calcium test kits give the measured ppm level of calcium of the sample tested;
however, the test result is relative to the salinity of the sample. The dosing
calculator compares the calcium levels from 2 individual tests, that may not
have been at the same salinity. To enable correct comparison of the readings,
the calculator “normalizes” all calcium values by adjusting them to the
salinity of the “Desired level” that you have set. (Note: 1 PSU (ppt)
difference in salinity will change the calcium level by approximately 13ppm)
Test log
Measure your salinity and test the Ca level using an accurate test kit (such
as Red Sea’s Calcium Pro Test Kit with a resolution of 5 ppm) and enter in the
“Ca test log” with the day and time that the sample was taken from the
aquarium. If you do not know the salinity, the calculator will assume that it
is at the desired level, however, this may affect the reliability of
recommended dosages.
Salinity (PSU/ppt) and S.G.
The default salinity unit of the calculator is PSU (practical salinity unit–
which is essentially the same as ppt) as this does not vary with temperature
and allows for easy comparison between 2 different measurements. If you are
measuring the specific gravity (S.G) the calculator requires the temperature
of the sample in order to calculate the salinity. For accuracy, this should be
the temperature of the sample at the time of measurement, however, the
temperature of the aquarium should be a close enough approximation.
Calcium and Salinity levels
Desired – The calcium and salinity values that you wish to have according to
the specific goals for your system.
Ideally, these should be the values of new saltwater used for water changes.
Current – This refers to the most recent entry in the test log.
Previous – This refers to an older entry in the test log.
By default, the calculator takes the most recent entry in the log as the
“Current” value and the one immediately before that as the “Previous” value.
You can select different entries from the log for both the
Current and Previous values, the date of the “Current” must be more recent
than that of the “Previous”. However, there must be at least 24 hours between
the selected entries.
Calculating the daily dose
The calcium uptake of your aquarium will change over time as you add or remove
livestock or as the corals grow.
The calculator determines the actual calcium uptake of your system per day
based on the difference between the normalized calcium levels of the selected
“Current” and “Previous” calcium tests and the volume of Part#1 dosed by the
ReefDose between the exact times recorded for each of the tests. Using the
calculator on a weekly basis will enable you to adjust the dosing according to
the actual uptake, optimizing the dosing for your specific system.
If you are making regular water changes, it is best to do the calcium test
before the water changes. Make sure that the “Current” and “Previous” sections
on the screen show the relevant data before calculating the “Daily dose”.
Note: The calculator sums all the doses completed by the doser to the
nearest minute. The Dosing log in the App presents the total volume dosed per
hour, so there may be a difference between the log and the total dosed
according to the calculator.
Calculating the Adjustment dose
The calculator compares the “Current” calcium level with the “Desired” level
that you have set and recommends an appropriate adjustment.
Make sure that “Desired”, “Current” and “Previous” sections on the screen show
the relevant data before calculating the “Adjustment dose”.
In a well-balanced mature system, the “Adjustment dose” should be relatively
small and may reflect the accuracy of the test kits rather than an absolute
requirement.
Significant differences between “Current” and “Desired” levels are identified
by the calculator with pop-up messages, however, the recommendations need to
be implemented manually.
If your “Current” calcium level is higher than the “Desired” the calculator
will advise switching off the daily dosing for a number of days to allow the
natural calcium uptake of your aquarium to reduce it to the desired level. If
the difference is larger than can be achieved in 3 days the recommendation is
to stop dosing for 3 days, retest and recalculate.
If the “Current” level is more than 20ppm lower than the desired level, you
should spread the adjustment dose over a few days to prevent stressing the
corals.
If significant differences are happening often, you should check things that
affect your water parameters such as the setting of your Daily dose, ATO
functionality, skimmer pulling out too much wet waste, parameters of water
used for water changes, accuracy of your calcium test kit, etc.
Alkalinity
When using the 4-Part Reef Care program in a balanced system the alkalinity
will remain stable with the recommended proportional dose according to the
calcium measurements and therefore the dosing calculator does not include
alkalinity logs or adjustment recommendations.
It is recommended to test the KH/Alkalinity every 2 – 3 weeks to ensure that
everything remains in balance. If the variance is more than 0.5dKH make an
adjustment dose of Part #2.
To calculate the adjustment dose of Part#2; 1ml of Part #2 will raise the KH
level of 100 liters / 25 gal by 0.1dKH (0.036 meq/l).
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Read User Manual Online (PDF format) >>